Max Laughren remains modest about saving the life of a beautiful black dog named Huskers.

The 15-year-old Lively resident rescued a dog from the frigid waters of Little Panache Lake Sunday, April 1 in Whitefish.

Laughren, using a kayak and plenty of bravery, rode up on the ice in the kayak to save the 90-pound black dog named Huskers from certain death.

It all began when Laughren’s mother, Tannys, took a walk just before dinner around her father’s home on the lake, between 5:30 and 6 pm.

She was counting the paces to the dock for when she and her fiancé Bob Yeamans would walk down the aisle for their wedding this coming summer.

As she approached the shore, she spotted what appeared to be a dog’s head in the water, more than 100 feet out.

She realized what was happening and ran inside to tell the family what was occurring.

After she told them, the Laughren family raced to the dock.

The dog had fallen through the thin ice and was imprisoned by a circle of ice all around him. The dog couldn’t swim under the ice due to the distance, but instead treaded water for an unknown time because no one heard a splash.

“You could tell he was tired,” Laughren said. “I think we all knew he wasn’t going to make it.”

“He looked like he was on the verge of drowning,” Yeamans said. “He was struggling to get up on the ice. He was wailing around in the water.”

Laughren and Yeamans went into action. The pair jumped into their aluminum boat and started out to try and see if they could save the dog.

But the boat got stuck on the ice mere metres from the dock. It was too heavy and there was two or three inches of bad ice, according to Yeamans.

That’s when Yeamans suggested they try and use kayaks located in a nearby shed.

“I suggested that maybe we try the kayaks,” Yeamans said. “Before I knew it, Max was in the kayak and three-quarters of the way out to rescue the dog.”

Laughren jumped into the water and swam back to shore. He raced to the shed, grabbed a kayak and paddle, and headed back into the lake.

The ice broke at first, but got thicker as he went further. He tried to rescue the dog using his hands at first, but that didn’t work, so he stabbed the ice with his kayak’s paddle and pulled the plastic two-metre-long vessel towards the dog.

Edging closer and closer, metre by metre, the teen managed to reach the animal just as its head was almost under the water.

“At first he was reluctant,” Laughren said. “I don’t know if he was confused or not.”

“His eyes were red and he was shaking and on the verge of fainting.”

Only the dog’s nose jutted out from the darkness of the lake. The 150-pound teen reached in and grabbed the 90-pound, soaking wet, canine by its collar and pulled it out of the lake and the icy grip of death.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I pulled him out because he didn’t have the strength to do it himself,” Laughren said.

Once he’d got the dog out of the lake and placed him over his kayak, Laughren said he couldn’t move because the dog was too heavy.

“He managed to get the dog on top of the kayak and couldn’t really paddle and hold the dog at the same time.” Yeamans said.

Meanwhile, Yeamans had retrieved his own kayak and was following Laughren’s path in order to assist further.

“He came out to help because there was no way I could do it by myself,” Laughren said.

Once Yeamans had reached the pair, they transferred the dog to his kayak. They traveled side by side in tandem until they couldn’t go any further, Yeamans said.

Due to thicker ice, they couldn’t break through with the kayaks. Laughren got out and pulled Yeamans’ kayak by the handle with his right hand.

“The dog didn’t look too good,” Yeamans said. “He wasn’t really responsive to us.

“He was just dead-weight, breathing, but just barely. I was wondering if the dog was even going to live.”

As they got closer, Laughren’s weight caused him to fall through the ice back into the lake. He used his left hand to break the ice in front of him and continue to shore.

“I worried about the safety of Max because it was obviously cold water,” Yeamans said.

“He definitely put himself at risk,” Yeamans said. “He didn’t hesitate and he was bound and determined he was going to save the dog.”

When the rescuers got closer to shore, Max’s grandfather Floyd threw them a rope. The rest of the Laughren family pulled the kayak with the dog back to shore and to safety.
“As soon as I got on shore, my whole body was tingling,” Max Laughren said.

After 40 minutes of the rescue drama, the family went inside and grabbed sleeping bags, blankets, and towels. The family placed the dog by the fireplace and the rescuers warmed up alongside him.

After five hours, the family was rewarded for their efforts when they saw Huskers would survive. The family called SPCA animal control and the agency was able to locate the owners.

“You could tell he was homesick and wanted to go home,” Laughren said.

The struggle took place off the shore of Floyd Laughren’s home. Laughren is the longtime NDP MPP for Nickel Belt, who represented that riding for more than two decades.

A mere three days after the open-ice rescue, the ice receded and the water was open clear across the bay.

“If he’d have been there Monday or Tuesday, we’d have never got it done,” Max Laughren said.

“We just did what we had to do,” Laughren added.

Huskers lives down North Shore Rd. with the Kauppi family.

It’s 4.4 kilometres from the Kauppi’s residence to the marina on Panache Lake. Huskers had to travel a total of 6.4 km to reach Laughrens’ home.

“He usually follows the road to the marina,” Kory Kauppi, 18, said. “But, I guess he went a little farther this time.”

The dog was returned to the Kauppi family the day after the rescue.

“He’s really happy now when you give him attention,” Kauppi said. “He seems like he’s sucking up a bit more.”

“I’m just really thankful that they got him out obviously,” Kauppi said. “We’re going through a pretty rough time here.”

Kauppi was referring to deceased friend Kurt Kaitila, 17, who was killed March 25 in a snowmobile accident. The teens were in the same grade at Lively Secondary School.

“He was a real good friend of mine,” Kauppi said. “If we would have lost him (Huskers) that would have made it a hell of a lot worse. We’re really thankful that they got him.”

The Kauppis and Huskers are invited to the Laughren/Yeamans wedding ceremony.